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Brazilian bantamweight Johnny Eduardo (25-9 MMA, 0-1 UFC) has suffered a shoulder injury and has been forced out of this month's UFC 139 fight with Michael McDonald (13-1 MMA, 2-0 UFC).
UFC officials today told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) a replacement search is underway. Tatame first reported the scratch.
UFC 139 takes place Nov. 19 at HP Pavilion in San Jose, Calif.
While the main card airs on pay-per-view, Eduardo vs. McDonald was slated for the portion of the preliminary card expected to stream on Facebook.

U.K. fans long have complained of fight cards light on significance. To date, just three belts have been put on the line in nine events held in the country.
On the eve of No. 10, otherwise known as UFC 138, it's only natural to wonder: Will another title fight ever make it to the U.K.?
"You've got to figure out – it's all an opportunity cost in some sense," UFC managing director of international development Marshall Zelaznik told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com).
Opportunity cost, in this case, means the potential loss of pay-per-view dollars. The UFC has cemented Saturday night as the destination for marquee events, and the promotion runs the risk of losing customers by shifting times.

FOX has announced its full lineup of programming that will air before and after next Saturday's historic UFC telecast, and it's without a doubt the most impressive TV lineup served up to fans surrounding any UFC event.
In addition to the one-hour telecast on FOX, which will feature Cain Velasquez vs. Junior dos Santos for the UFC heavyweight title, UFC programming will air on FUEL TV and FOX Deportes.
Below is an easy to read schedule of everything you can expect to see:
Friday, Nov. 11:
7:00 p.m. ET / 4 p.m. PT -- Weigh-ins live on FUEL TV
7:00 P.M. ET -- Cain Velasquez: Brown Pride, episode 3 on FOX Deportes

Say this for UFC bantamweight Brad Pickett: the guy's not kidding himself.
When asked by Ariel Helwani on Monday's edition of The MMA Hour if he thought his fight with Renan Barao would be so high up on the UFC 138 main card if the event wasn't in Pickett's home country, the British fighter initially replied, "Maybe, maybe not." Then came a more sober analysis.
"Probably not," he said. While he'd like to believe that he's main card material, he added, it sure doesn't hurt to have the Octagon in your own backyard for one night.

Jake Ellenberger is coming off the biggest win of his career over Jake Shields, and Nick Diaz is coming off the biggest win of his career over B.J. Penn. While Diaz is locked into a February title shot with Georges St. Pierre, Ellenberger has expressed some interest in fighting Diaz down the line. In fact, he wasn't very complimentary towards Diaz at all when talking to ESPN UK. He thinks GSP is going to walk through the pride of Stockton:
"He likes to run his mouth, I don't get him. He just likes to talk and he is what he is," Ellenberger told ESPN.
"He's gonna get his coming against GSP. GSP's motivated, I don't see what Nick's going to bring to the table. Jake Shields was a more difficult fight for GSP.
"GSP's a lot faster than Diaz, Diaz has no power, he's not going to knock him out. He should have finished BJ and he couldn't even do that."

You can't always get what you want.
The California State Athletic Commission has earmarked "Big" John McCarthy as the referee for the main event of UFC on FOX 1, which features a heavyweight title fight between champ Cain Velasquez and challenger Junior Dos Santos.
It's the UFC's first event on major network television.
"The UFC has been informed that there is a 99 percent chance that John McCarthy will be in the cage for the main event," CSAC Executive Officer George Dodd today told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com).
UFC on FOX 1 takes place Nov. 12 at Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif. The night's main event airs live on FOX as the showpiece of a one-hour broadcast.

"I talk to my manager like three times a week. You know I rather spank an American striker. Maybe Quinton Jackson. Despite coming from a loss, he fought the champion. If I could, I’d fight him or Dan Henderson. I can knock them out, I’m sure of it. If I could pick someone... But I can’t. If you wanna be a UFC champ, you can’t pick your opponents. You gotta fight whoever crosses your way. I’ll work so I win. I want to hurt, smash the Americans. In two weeks I believe Alex (Davis) tells me my next opponent ... Maybe I can fight Rich Frankin, who knows? That guy (Stanislav Nedkov) who defeated (Luis) Cane. I can fight anyone. I fight with five, six weeks in advance. I’m ready. If I fight in Brazil, it’s even better."
U mad? Brazilian light heavyweight boxer-turned-cagefighter Fabio Maldonado tells Tatame.com that he wants to kick some American ass in his next fight for the UFC. He also claims he's got the hands to knockout Dan Henderson and Quinton Jackson, two of the best 205-pounders in the game today. Anyone think he's trying the Chael Sonnen method of matchmaking? Or is he just bitter from his June 4 loss to Kyle Kingsbury, who trains at (wait for it ...) AMERICAN Kickboxing Academy?

To hear many MMA fans and pundits tell it, the UFC might as well scratch Saturday's UFC 138 altogether.
Despite boasting a 10-bout card that airs free around the globe, UFC 138 has come under fire from critics who are underwhelmed at the evening's lineup. Headliner Mark Munoz (11-2 MMA, 6-2 UFC), who meets slugger Chris Leben (22-7 MMA, 12-6 UFC), couldn't care less.
"They can say what they want," Munoz said at Wednesday's media workout session in Birmingham, England. "When they watch the fight, they're going to be like, 'Oh, I was wrong.' I love proving people wrong.
"It's going to be a great main event. People love to watch fireworks."

If anyone in the UFC's featherweight division has a right to be mad at the company's matchmaking duo of Joe Silva and Sean Shelby, it might just be Jason "Shotgun" Young (8-4 MMA, 0-1 UFC).
Young made his UFC debut this past June against once-beaten contender Dustin Poirier and now fights at Saturday's UFC 138 event against gritty Japanese vet Michihiro Omigawa (12-10-1 MMA, 0-4 UFC). No matter, says Young.
"They're not easy fights for me," Young told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com). "I haven't been built up in any way. But I'm no small fish. I'm trapped in the deep end, but I'm no small fish."
Poirier and Omigawa compete on the live Facebook-streamed preliminary card of Saturday's event, which takes place at LG Arena in Birmingham, England. The main card airs via same-delay in the U.S. on Spike TV (and live in other countries).

Longtime boxing fan Dana White always envisioned an event like UFC on FOX 1.
The UFC's heavily anticipated and historic network-television debut is reminiscent of the UFC president's earliest boxing memories, when major fights were must-see events.
"This is a throwback to the old days of boxing," he today said.
UFC on FOX 1 takes place next Saturday, Nov. 12, at Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif. The main event (and only televised fight) features UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez (9-0 MMA, 7-0 UFC) vs. Junior Dos Santos (13-1 MMA, 7-0 UFC)..
The event is a precursor to the big-bucks UFC-FOX deal, which doesn't kick off officially until 2012. So next week's event is a sort of a teaser event of what's to come. That's why only the title fight makes it to air (and why the entire undercard streams on FOX.com and Facebook).

A lightweight bout between top prospect Alexandre "Popo" Bezerra (11-1 MMA, 3-0 BFC) and UFC vet Doug Evans (13-9 MMA, 0-0 BFC) has been added to next week's Bellator 57 event.
MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) today confirmed the booking with event sources.
Bellator 57 takes place Nov. 12 at Casino Rama in Rama, Ontario, Canada.
Bellator 57's main card, which takes place the same day as UFC on FOX 1, begins at a special time of 7 p.m. ET/PT on MTV2. The prelims stream live on Spike.com.
Bezerra vs. Evans likely will be a featured preliminary-card bout.

The UFC continues its expansion at a blistering pace, recently signing a major television deal with Brazil's Globo, and planning a February show in Japan, an event that will mark the first show there under Zuffa ownership. But according to UFC president Dana White, that's just the tip of the iceberg.
On a Wednesday teleconference to promote the UFC on FOX premiere, White discussed some other worldwide plans, including an Ultimate Fighter "World Cup" that would take the winners from several international editions and match them against each other to produce one champion.
The idea has been a long-held one for White, and though its production remains off in the future, steps towards making it a reality are in the here and now.
A deal to produce the UFC's first international edition has been struck, and the show will soon begin taping in Brazil, likely in the spring of 2012.

Josh Koscheck has never been known as the quiet type, and it seems like every time there's an opening for a fight, he's there to tweet how he'll take it. He made that offer to Carlos Condit when Georges St. Pierre pulled out of UFC 137, but Condit chose to wait. And got burned. Now, Koscheck is doing his best to provoke Condit and his agent Malki Kawa into taking a bout with him. Dana White has already said Condit will compete on the February Super Bowl card, and it looks like Kos wants to as well. He made it clear via twitter, as usual:
@JoshKoscheck
Just thinking!That dude should of took thefight with me on a week notice bc if he HADa chance2make it aclose fight,It was then,NOW 0 chance

Jon Anik still doesn't know who will be part of the UFC broadcasting "B team" with him.
But the list of candidates has been whittled down a bit, the UFC's new play-by-play man today told MMAjunkie.com Radio.
According to Anik, who will be part of next week's UFC on FOX 1 event, UFC officials told him his booth partner will be either a past or present UFC fighter.

[yes another Chael interview...though finally its not solely on Anderson]
ProMMANow caught up with Chael Sonnen over the weekend and they asked the number one UFC middleweight contender if he thinks the rumored bout with Anderson Silva will happen soon. As usual, Chael didn’t hold back especially when talking about Silva’s seeming unwillingness to fight him again and the recent callout he got from Vitor Belfort.
“Listen, I’m gonna go fight whether it’s him or it’s someone else, I’m not gonna hold back. I fight them all. I am the middleweight champion and I take on all comers and he’s an impostor. The clear distinction between the tru champion and that bum is that. I’ll fight ‘em all. I don’t care what their name is, what their record is…big fight, little fight, this fight, that fight…I will fight. Period. Vitor Belfort calls me out, that’s no problem, Vitor,” Sonnen stated. “I will stomp you just as sure as I’ll do this interview today. You mean nothing to me, okay? You wanna fight me? Let’s fight. Got that, Vitor? You challenged me. I accept your challenge, stupid. Now what are you gonna do? Nothing, are you? You just said it ‘cuz you knew my plate was full. Wrong. I will stomp you.”
He also touched on the close relationship he has with his mother. I wonder what she thinks about Chael’s “Gangster from America” routine and if she condones him spanking random men’s wives on the ass and telling them to go cook him a steak.

“It sucked. It was boring. I want to put on exciting fights. As soon as I watched it I thought, ‘That was exactly how I should have fought Cheick.’ Exactly how Nick Diaz fought B.J. is how I should have fought Cheick. Nick was aggressive and constantly threw punches at B.J. even if B.J. didn’t want to commit… Both of our performances — I think it was just a dull fight. It was just a lot of chasing him down. It was a learning experience but it sucks at the same time. I’d rather get my ass kicked in dramatic fashion than lose with the crowd booing. I can tell you it won’t happen again. If I lose again it’s going to be because I get my ass kicked in an ugly, ugly way.”
Meathead is fairly critical about himself and the fight, but at least is being honest. i hope to see him more aggressive next time out